When is the best time to take your drone out?

September 11, 2017 | Jose Lizama

Be careful when you take your drone for your summer holiday

Another important parameter is the temperature. The temperature depends on the combination of the altitude or the density of the air. To make things easier to understand. If you are on the beach with your drone and it is hot, what would happen? The hotter is the air the less density it has. Imagine a jar of honey. Good quality honey is usually dense, almost solid. But if you warm it up the honey will become more liquid and it will move faster and easier. Now imagine an ant walking above the solid honey. It would be sticky and difficult for the ant. But the more liquid the honey is, the more chances are that the ant will run out energy sooner and sink. The same happens to a drone and the air. The hotter the air become more like the liquid honey. Because the drone flies up by pushing the air down. The hotter the air the more difficult for the drone will push the same amount of air. Thus it will need to use more battery and the flight will be shorter. Altitude also changes the density of the air. The higher the altitude the less dense is the air. So the more energy your drone will need to fly.

Visual contract with your drone is important

The last important point to consider about the weather is the visibility. Even if you can control your drone using a screen, the safest way to fly is by visual contact. Usually, this is also the legal way to fly depending on the regulations in your country. So the last thing you want it is to lose visibility of your drones when flying nearby the clouds. In a foggy day, you might have a problem to keep the line of sight with the drone. Then you will increase the chances of having an accident. You might lose control of your drone, or land in the wrong place.

Basic weather checklist before your drone flight

So you should not underestimate the weather. Consider the weather factors every time you operate your drone. A good practice is that before going to fly your drone study the weather. You might like to look at the weather forecast for raining and at the wind speed. You should plan your flight time based on the altitude and temperature as well. And make sure you have the right visibility.